Strv m/41 S-I
This page is about the premium Swedish light tank Strv m/41 S-I. For the regular version, see Strv m/41 S-II. |
Contents
Description
In 1939 and with the rise of tensions in Europe, Sweden purchased the production rights of TNH light tank from the Czech ČKD company, which is actually the export type of the LT-38 tank. The tank was produced in Sweden and named Strv m/41, with a total weight of 11 tons. The Stridsvagn m/41 S-I was the first version of the tank made in Sweden, later an upgraded version was developed. Compared with the original Czech version, the Strv m/41 model had minor differences in appearance, the most noticeable modification is the addition of a periscope above the loader seat on the top of the turret. Once production started, the tank was quickly delivered between 1942 and 1943 and operated with the Third Armored Regiment.
Introduced in Update "Ixwa Strike" and like other low BR Swedish tanks, it has access to the Bofors 37 mm kan m/38 gun that comes with an excellent APDS shell. The tank has armour comparable to the Panzer III J, and has decent mobility, although it is not as mobile as the BT-7 or M5A1. The quick reload time, excellent gun, and decent mobility make the Strv m/41 S-I a great support vehicle. It's capable of penetrating even heavy tanks, although the low calibre of the gun requires good aim to hit critical components or the crew.
General info
Survivability and armour
Armour type:
- Rolled homogeneous armour (Hull, Turret plates)
- Cast homogeneous armour (Hull machine gun port, Turret machine gun port, Gun mantlet, Gunner optic housing)
Armour | Front (Slope angle) | Sides | Rear | Roof |
---|---|---|---|---|
Hull | 50 mm (20°) Hull plate 15 mm (74°) Front glacis 50 mm (18°) Lower glacis 15 mm (59°) Belly-Lower glacis connecting plate |
15 mm | 8 mm (35-65°) Top 15 mm (6-24°) Bottom |
8 mm |
Turret | 50 mm (10°) Turret front 35 mm (4-57°) Gun mantlet 20 mm (9°) Turret ring |
20 mm (8-9°) Turret sides 13 mm Gun mantlet sides |
35 mm (6-7°) | 8 mm |
Cupola | 21 mm Vision ports | 15 mm | 15 mm | 8-15 mm |
Notes:
- Tracks, suspension wheels, and bogies all have thicknesses of 15 mm thick.
- Belly armour is 5 mm thick.
Mobility
Game Mode | Max Speed (km/h) | Weight (tons) | Engine power (horsepower) | Power-to-weight ratio (hp/ton) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Forward | Reverse | Stock | Upgraded | Stock | Upgraded | ||
Arcade | 46 | 7 | 10.5 | 226 | 279 | 21.52 | 26.57 |
Realistic | 41 | 6 | 129 | 146 | 12.29 | 13.9 |
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Main armament
37 mm kan m/38 | Turret rotation speed (°/s) | Reloading rate (seconds) | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mode | Capacity | Vertical | Horizontal | Stabilizer | Stock | Upgraded | Full | Expert | Aced | Stock | Full | Expert | Aced |
Arcade | 100 | -14°/+20° | ±180° | N/A | 13.3 | 18.4 | 22.4 | 24.8 | 26.4 | 4.03 | 3.57 | 3.29 | 3.10 |
Realistic | 8.3 | 9.8 | 11.9 | 13.2 | 14.0 |
Ammunition
Penetration statistics | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Penetration @ 0° Angle of Attack (mm) | |||||
10 m | 100 m | 500 m | 1,000 m | 1,500 m | 2,000 m | ||
slpprj m/38 | APBC | 59 | 55 | 41 | 28 | 19 | 13 |
slpgr m/39 | APHE | 55 | 51 | 37 | 26 | 17 | 12 |
3,7 cm slpprj m/49 | APDS | 115 | 111 | 95 | 78 | 64 | 52 |
Shell details | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ammunition | Type of warhead |
Velocity (m/s) |
Projectile mass (kg) |
Fuse delay (m) |
Fuse sensitivity (mm) |
Explosive mass (TNT equivalent) (g) |
Ricochet | |||||
0% | 50% | 100% | ||||||||||
slpprj m/38 | APBC | 785 | 0.74 | - | - | - | 47° | 60° | 65° | |||
slpgr m/39 | APHE | 800 | 0.74 | 1.2 | 9 | 15 | 47° | 60° | 65° | |||
3,7 cm slpprj m/49 | APDS | 1,150 | 0.3 | - | - | - | 75° | 78° | 80° |
Ammo racks
Full ammo |
1st rack empty |
2nd rack empty |
3rd rack empty |
4th rack empty |
5th rack empty |
Visual discrepancy |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 | 51 (+49) | 36 (+64) | 26 (+74) | 11 (+89) | 1 (+99) | No |
Machine guns
8 mm ksp m/36 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Mount | Capacity (Belt) | Fire rate | Vertical | Horizontal |
Coaxial | 4,000 (250) | 649 | -14°/+20° | N/A |
Usage in battles
The Strv m/41 S-I has a similar playstyle to the original Pz.38(t) F, though it is equipped with a Swedish Bofors 37 mm kan m/38 which is the same cannon on the other Swedish light tanks and the Lago I. The cannon's regular APBC and APHE shells are a bit on the weaker side in terms of penetration, but it has a saving grace in its ability to use APDS rounds.
Even though the Strv m/41 S-I is a light tank, it has armour comparable to that of medium tanks like the Panzer III Ausf. J or the Ho-I. The frontal armour is as thick as 50 mm on both the hull and turret. Though it has a hard front, the sides and rears are less than desirable when it comes to armoured protection making the sides and rear vulnerable to heavy machine gun fire, autocannons, and larger cannons which will easily incapacitate the Strv m/41 S-I. Hence the Strv m/41 S-I should be aware of its surroundings and not expose the sides or rear too much for the enemy.
Similar to the Strv m/41 S-II, its mobility is decent, but not the greatest to get into a good frontline position like the M5A1 or BT-7 due to the lack of speed and accelaration, making it vulnerable on the move to a position where it can play to its strengths; however, once a Strv m/41 S-I is in position, it can be a thorn in the enemies sides with its APDS rounds.
The Strv m/41 S-I, like most early Swedish light tanks, excels in an entrenched position or in an ambush position from a distance where it can depend on its APDS rounds to penetrate enemy targets at long distances. Though the APDS lacks in post-penetration damage, it can still out range most vehicles with a decent accuracy being able to even knock out vehicles like M10 Wolverine at range with well-placed shells. The Strv m/41 also has excellent gun depression, making it very efficient at peeking over hills without exposing too much of the vehicle itself. Peeking over hills will also increase the armour protection due to the 50 mm armour being at an angle, which makes it a very efficient vehicle in higher positions.
- Enemies to be aware of
These vehicles have the ability to take out the Strv m/41 S-I at any range, even if it's in an hull-down position, due to their larger cannons with higher velocity which pose a threat to the small light tank. Not all of them have long barrel cannons, but they do have armour that will pose a threat to the Strv m/41; whether it is the thickness, as with the KV-1 (L-11), or the angle, like the M4A3 (105) or T-34, these will roll up with little worries if the Strv m/41 S-I is not good at aiming for weak points of the vehicles.
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Access to high-penetration APDS shells
- Excellent gun depression
- Fast rate of fire
- Decent frontal protection
Cons:
- Low post-penetration damage with APDS
- Thin armour
- Poor reverse speed
- Low weight so vehicle shakes violently, hard to halt and fire
History
In 1939, Sweden purchased the production right of TnH light tank from Czech ČKD company, which is actually the export type of LT-38 tank. Subsequently, the Scania vabis factory began to produce this tank and obtained the number strv m/41. The Swedish self-produced tank is named Strv m/41, with a total weight of 11 tons, a length of 4.6 m, a width of 2.14 m, and a height of 2.35 m. The overall design is similar to the early model of Panzer 38 (t). The armor thickness of the body and the front of the turret is 25 mm. It uses a four-person car set, and the engine is a Scania Vasby 1664 gasoline engine, with an output power of 142 horsepower, a maximum road speed of 42 km/h, and a maximum range of 200 km. The Strv m/41 uses Swedish-made weapons. The main gun is a Bofors 37 mm m/38 tank gun, the vehicle-mounted Bofors 37 mm anti-tank gun, which can penetrate 55 mm flat armour at a distance of 200 m, and the auxiliary weapon is two 8 mm m/39 machine guns. Compared with the original Czech version, the Strv m/41 model has detailed differences in appearance. The most obvious is the addition of a periscope above the loader seat on the top of the turret, and the shape of the rear of the turret is also different. Because it took a lot of time to digest the technology and set up the production line, the Strv m/41 tank was delivered in December 1942 and completed in August 1943. It was initially equipped with the third Armored Regiment.
Media
- Skins
- Video
See also
- Vehicles equipped with the same chassis
- Similar Role
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
AB Scania-Vabis | |
---|---|
Light Tanks | |
Strv m/41 | Strv m/41 S-I · Strv m/41 S-II |
Tank Destroyers | |
Strv m/41 | Spj fm/43-44 |
Sav m/43 | Sav m/43 (1944) · Sav m/43 (1946) |
Sweden light tanks | |
---|---|
L-60 | Strv m/38 · Strv m/39 · Strv m/39 TD · Strv m/40L |
Strv m/41 | Strv m/41 S-I · Strv m/41 S-II |
Ikv 91 | Ikv 91 · Ikv 91-105 |
CV 90 | Strf 9040B · Strf 9040C · Strf 9040 BILL |
CV 90105 · CV 90120 | |
Wheeled | Pbil m/40 · U-SH 405 |
Other | Strv m/31 · Strv 74 · Pbv 501 |
Finland | Vickers Mk.E · ▄T-26E · BT-42 · ▄PT-76 · CV9030FIN · CT-CV 105HP |
Denmark | CV9035DK |
Sweden premium ground vehicles | |
---|---|
Light tanks | ▄T-26E · Strv m/39 · Pbil m/40 · Strv m/41 S-I · CV9035DK · CV 90105 |
Medium tanks | Sherman III/IV · Strv 81 (RB 52) · Strv 103-0 · Leopard 1A5NO2 · Christian II |
Heavy tanks | ▄KV-1 m1942 · Kungstiger |
Tank destroyers | Ikv 73 · SAV 20.12.48 · VIDAR |